Self Introduction
by FlamingWolf
Summary: Relena reflecting on the past. The first section bracketed is taken from the manga


'It feels like you and I are somehow alike. I want to know more about you.' The girl thought, looking after the boy's retreating back. He was so immovable, and nothing anyone else said could touch him. He had a dignity the girl yearned towards. His contempt was outward. She could tell his soul burned within him.  
Still, she could not speak. She lacked the courage to take that first step.  
She was too late. He was gone. A dull ache throbbed in her chest; the pain of loss. She stared out of the window, for once tuning out the class and her studies. Nothing mattered. At break time, she heard the other girls gossipping about the boy. In disgust, she slammed down her books and walked out, her eyes once more straying to the window.  
He stood there at the school's gate, staring back at the building that had persecuted him through its inhabitants.  
The eleven year old girl ran down the steps and through the building, her eyes brimming. Panic spurred her on, faster and faster, until she herself stood at the gates.  
He was gone. Instinctively, she turned in the direction he had gone, thinking, 'This is how I should have done it.'  
"My name is Relena Darlian," She whispered into the silent street. "What's yours...what's yours?"  
  
****  
  
I sigh, walking along the beachfront. I need to focus. I don't know why I remember that particular incident. As usual, my father's job seems to have ensured that he has no time for me. I'm wandering alone down the beach the day before my birthday. I don't know why I chose this route, any more than why I choose this moment to look out towards the sea. Perhaps it is the sudden easing of that pain of loss I have felt since I was eleven.  
I see the body laying on the shore. For a moment, I believe it to be a corpse. Then the figure moves, and I am rushing for the phone, dialing for an ambulance. I don't know why my panic is so intense. Are life- bondings more than a myth? I shove that ridiculous thought aside as I return, slowly removing his helmet when I arrive. The boy is around my own age, and a thrill of recognition floods me. He is the same boy from St. Gabriel's, oh, so long ago!  
I must be overreacting to my dream of last night, the memory of staring down that long road after my silent knight. He couldn't possibly be the same boy! The odds against it are phenomenal!  
He stirs and awakens. I wonder at the vibratation that rushes through me at the sight of his seemingly endless blue eyes, the feel of his head on my lap. A flash of recognition widens those cobalt orbs, and he flings himself up and away from me. His hand flies up to hide- to shield?- his face from me.  
"Anyone who sees my face must die!" He says, a gun appearing in his hand.  
The ambulance appears at the top of the rise. Without another word, the boy in his seeming alarm dashes to the top of the stairs, dispatching the paramedics with a few quick kicks. He jumps into the emergency vehicle and drives away.  
Once more, I find my feet running, and I am now standing where he just was. I am shocked to find that I care nothing for those medics, and that the whole sequence has only taken seconds. I reach my hand down the road to where he has once more disappeared- for I am sure now that he is the orphan who left so long ago!- and my voice trembles as I whisper,  
"My name is Relena Darlian. What's yours?"  
  
****  
  
I don't know why I am so desolate as I sit here in this classroom. Is it because of my strange encounter on the beach yesterday? I try no to think of those happenings, as the door slowly creaks open and the mother superior walks into the room. Behind her, with the wary, catlike movements of a hunter, walks the strange young man, who introduces himself as Heero Yuy. 'Is this truly your name, my silent warrior, orphan who was as ignored as I was several years back? Or do you still hide yourself from me, refusing a true introduction?' Despite my surprise at the sight of him, my mind continues to speculate, 'Are you really the descendant of the colonial leader? Or is it merely an assumed name?' I realize that he is coming to the seat next to mine. I watch him move towards me, every rhythm radiating strength and elegance, that old dignity still intact. He sits down and ignores me. And when faced with my cold, dark one's silent contempt, I still can't introduce myself to him.  
  
***  
  
I jerk myself forcefully back to the present, six years later. Something changed on that Christmas Eve five years ago when Heero Yuy collapsed into my arms. I gently held him, shielding his eyes from the sight of the bleeding Mariemaia, and told him that it was over. Instead it was a beginning. I glance up at him now as I walk beside the tall, proud soldier. He seemed subdued when he appeared this night and asked me to accompany him. I worry about him. Is something wrong, Heero? He gently takes my elbow and leads me down an embankment. I tear my eyes from him and gasp in astonishment as I realize that we are on the same beach we remet on six years ago tonight. In three hours, I will be twenty- one. Has it truly been so long? I note a small smile on my Heero's face. I now believe in life-bondings. Tenderly, he takes my hand and kneels at my feet in the sand, which he has sworn matches the color of my hair. I have never seen him so self-effacing before. Haltingly, he says something that shocks me: "I don't deserve you, but I have been in love with you from the moment I saw you on this beach six years ago. Please, Relena," He pauses, then forces himself to continue, "Will you marry me?" I feel a smile cross my face as I answer, "It is hard to marry one when one has not been properly introduced to their mate-to-be. "My name is Relena Darlian. What's yours?" 


End file.
